An anticancer agent may be able to regenerate damaged heart muscle, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal PNAS. This laboratory discovery in mice offers a new therapeutic voice for the prevention of congestive heart failure. Indeed, after a heart attack, the heart tissue is unable to repair itself, which will lead to heart weakness and congestive heart failure.
The anticancer agent allowed the regeneration of heart tissue
While researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in the United States were conducting a study on a drug against Cancer targeting Wnt signaling molecules, molecules essential for tissue regeneration but involved in the development of cancer, they discovered that the chemical inhibition of Wnt acyltransferase Porcupine or Porcn offered satisfactory results in improving heart function after’infarction of the myocardium in mice.
They observed in rodents that Porcn causes an increase in the number of cardiomyocytes, cells of the heart muscle. Scientists tested the molecule in mice after a heart attack. They analyzed that their cardiac capacity was multiplied by 2 compared to untreated animals.
“The Wnt inhibitor would only need to be used for a very short time after the heart attack, so with rapid effectiveness and little risk of unpleasant side effects,” said Dr Lawrence Lum, professor of cell biology. at University of Texas and study author.
To confirm their encouraging results, the researchers have scheduled clinical trials of Wnt inhibitors as post-heart disease regenerative agents.
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